Geolocation by IP address is the method of determining the geographic location of an Internet-connected device by examining data related to the IP address it is using. Google is effectively using geolocation to deliver targeted content by redirecting Google visitors to pages translated into their local language. On the other hand, geolocation can also be used to filter content. Just recently, selected YouTube videos have been discovered to bear special tags indicating that it is inappropriate for viewing in some countries .
There are several IP geolocation services in the Internet so I gave some of them a spin. Here are the results according to increasing accuracy in determining my location.
- IP2location got my country right but was not able to provide my city.
- IPligence got my city wrong.. or maybe it did not know my city and gave the national capital instead as default.
- Geobytes and Maxmind got my city right.
- HostIP.info not only got my city right but also has an API to go with it. And did I mention that the service is free?
Point your browser to http://api.hostip.info/ and you get an XML feed containing not only your City and Country but also your geographic coordinates as well. Sweet!
I can't resist the temptation to use this geolocation service and mix it up with Google Maps API into a Google gadget.. so I came up with another widget called WTHAMI?. Here it is in action..
If it doesn't get your location right, don't sue me. You can update your location at HostIP.info.
1 comment:
You can also use highly customizable geolocation widget here
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